1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for dispensing materials and, more particularly, to such an apparatus which is uniquely well suited to the dispensing of bulk materials in relatively small quantities to receiving vehicles of limited capacity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The handling of bulk materials presents a host of difficulties which may not be readily apparent until the exigencies of a particular operative environment are experienced. For example, in the construction industry as well as in the case of those businesses supplying materials to the construction industry and to home owners, it is frequently the case that bulk materials must be dispensed in measured quantities and under such circumstances that the desired precision and convenience are lacking. Such bulk construction materials as sand, gravel and rock and soil amendments such as humus, fertilizer, bark and a wide variety of other materials must frequently be dispensed and transported in relatively small quantities. The volumes required are frequently too great to make individually containerized quantities of the products practical, but too small to make full commercial bulk deliveries practical.
In such circumstances, the quantity of a particular bulk material to be dispensed is typically measured by weight. Similarly, in the case of businesses selling such materials, the price charged for the materials is typically based upon the weight of the material. For example, the price for gravel may be set based upon a designated price per ton. In other instances, the price may be based upon the designated amount per volume such as, for example, a price based upon a designated price per cubic yard. In these instances, for a designated bulk material, there may be a known conversion so that it is known that a given weight of a designated material is equivalent to a designated volume of the material. Thus, in such circumstances, if the price or job requirements designate that a certain volume of material be dispensed, that volume of material can be dispensed based upon the weight of the material converting this measurement to the equivalent volume.
Nonetheless, in such quantities, the difficulties associated with weighing and dispensing of the bulk materials are considerable. Stated most simply, the designated amount of bulk material must be weighed or otherwise measured and then dispensed. In relatively small quantities, this can be achieved by hand, in effect, through the medium of shoveling the bulk material into a container resting on a suitable scale or other measuring device and subsequently depositing the measured material into a receiving vehicle or the like until the requested volume of bulk material has been dispensed. More commonly, however, personnel dispensing the material simply estimate when the requested amount has been dispensed. Frequently this practice results in a greater quantity of the designated bulk material being dispensed in order to avoid dispensing less than the designated amount. This practice suffers from a number of undesirable consequences including waste and inefficiency. Of perhaps more acute nature are the consequences resulting from dependency on the accuracy of the measured amount of material, particularly where the construction requirements are dependent for reliability upon using the precise quantity specified. Thus, for example, where the construction requirements designate that a given quantity of material be distributed over or within a given area, the inaccuracy of the preceding practice may, to varying degrees, render the completed construction project inadequate or compromise the structural integrity thereof.
While a variety of devices have been developed which have attempted to overcome the difficulties in the dispensing of such materials, they typically have been less than satisfactory in numerous respects. Certain of these devices have been capable of measuring relatively precisely the quantity of material to be dispensed. Typically, however, such devices are too expensive to be employed in wide usage as well as too cumbersome to permit convenient dispensing of the materials to, for example, vehicles of limited capacity. In other instances, such prior art devices may be appropriately inexpensive for practical application, but are of such limited capacity as to render them impractical in such operative environments. These deficiencies are merely representative of a myriad of operative deficiencies characterized by such prior art devices.
Therefore, it has long been known that it would be desirable to have an apparatus for dispensing materials which was capable accurately and dependably of measuring bulk materials in operative environments where relatively small quantities of such material are specified; which had particular utility in the dispensing of bulk materials to vehicles of limited capacity and into relatively confined areas; which could be manufactured and sold at a cost which was entirely acceptable within such industries and businesses in which such devices are required for use; which was capable of operation in the dispensing of a wide variety of materials including particularly bulk materials employed in construction, landscaping and the like; which was widely adaptable for dispensing such materials to a variety of types of receiving vehicles and receptacles; and which was otherwise entirely successful in achieving its operational objectives.